Law and Politics

The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled a union-authorization vote for April 22 at Boeing’s South Carolina aircraft plants. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has been trying to organize the 3,000 workers at the five factories, all in the Charleston area.

Dallas, Texas - Hard-working families need a leader in the White House who will stand up and fight for them. Ted Cruz is not that leader. Instead, he has spent his entire career hurting the families he is supposed to represent.

New York, NY - Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mayor Bill de Blasio may not have a lot in common, but they have penned a joint letter together urging Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature to renew mayoral control of schools "without alteration and without delay."

Mineloa, NY – Opponents of Governor Andrew Cuomo's education agenda rallied outside the Nassau Council Legislative Office last weekend to protest chronic underfunding and the chief executive's continued emphasis on high stakes testing and state takeovers of struggling local schools.

New York, NY - Is the labor movement spending too much energy lobbying politician in the hopes elected officials will act on behalf of working men and women? Absolutely, says Unite Here President D. Taylor.

The Illinois state council of the Service Employees International Union voted March 14 to endorse challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for mayor of Chicago over incumbent Rahm Emanuel. The union had previously been neutral, but SEIU Local 1 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, which wanted Garcia, prevailed over SEIU Local 73, which supported Emanuel.

A bill to ban the union shop in New Mexico failed in the state Senate March 10, when the Public Affairs Committee voted 5-3 along party lines to table it. The Republican-majority House passed the bill by seven votes last month, but the Senate’s Democratic majority refused to bring it to the floor, with a 25-17 no vote also along party lines.

New York, NY – After extensive negotiations, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn successfully reached an agreement on a proposal for paid sick leave for New York City workers March 29, 2013. The agreement is groundbreaking in both its expansion of protections to workers and responsible balanced approach to protecting small businesses.______________________

Michigan's “right-to-work”(RTW) legislation has many Americans around the country questioning how similar laws would impact their livelihoods. The Wolverine State is now the 24th to approve such measures.

By Thomas J. Mackell, Jr., Ed.D. President Association of Benefit Administrators
The ObamaCare buzz in Washington these days is about new delays, enrollment deadlines and political deadlock. But there is an aspect of the debate that has been vastly overlooked, and it is stands to hurt America’s union workers: the undermining of the only real insurance alternative to ObamaCare.______________________

MANHATTAN NY – The Working Families Party (WFP) has announced its endorsement of City Council candidate Corey Johnson. This key endorsement adds to Johnson’s growing list of endorsements from Former State Senator Tom Duane, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), 32BJ SEIU, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, Teamsters Joint Council 16, Retail Wholesale Department Store Workers Union (RWDSU), Uniform Fire Officers Association (UFOA), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council (HMTC), Mason Tenders District Council (MTDC), the Village Independent Democrats (VID), and over 600 community and neighborhood leaders.